Transfer student, need serious help

popitx
Thu, 25 Jun 2015 06:25:37 +0000

I am a California community college student and I need some serious help and advice.
My stats are:
GPA: 3.7x when I apply for transfer
Major: Math and Astrophysics double major
EC: Lots. Student Government senator for 1 year, currently Vice President. I’m involved with another student government organization which I don’t want to name here. I played waterpolo for 1 year and swim for 3 years. I will be getting an on campus job in this upcoming year. Various clubs on campus. It seems like I am always doing an EC activity.

Okay so I am on track to transfer after this year. However, things at my house have seriously gone downhill and I have no idea how I will pay for a university. It’s kind of a long story.

Anyways, my mom and I, for the first time today, ran the EFC from the fafsa website. It says the EFC is 25000. However, this is 1/4 of what we bring home. Only my dad works. On paper it looks like he makes a lot more than he does. The gross income is 209,000 but my mom says he only gets half of that to actually use. I don’t know what it goes to, but she told me that it goes to his 401k which currently has ~700,000-~800,000 in it. We live in a house in San Diego that isn’t paid off yet. Our household has 4 cars. 2 are paid off, 2 aren’t. Do these numbers add up?

She told me today that I will most likely not be able to attend any UCs (my top 3 are: UCB, UCLA, UCSC). If any, I would go to UCSD and commute from home, even though I live about an hour away from the campus. This seems like a lot of driving to be doing, but she said there is not really a way to pay for room and board as well. She said SDSU is pretty much my only affordable option at this point. I would also be communing from home for there, as well. I’m not a fan of their campus, and I haven’t been since I first went when I was 14 (now 20). I need to get out of this town, and my house. I am severely depressed being here and constantly being surrounded and harassed by family members.

Back to the long story. I will probably be moving out, or they will be kicking me out since there is currently so much fighting and tension at home. I don’t have anywhere to go, but I might be able to stay on my community college campus in my vice president office. I will find out tomorrow. I’m really lost/upset/confused, because I need to transfer this year because I am really losing my mind.

So… where would I go to find merit aid, scholarships, etc? Everything I can seem to find is for “low income families” or those who have financial need. On paper I don’t have financial need, but I obviously do. If I don’t figure this out soon I will be homeless and no longer working on my education. My parents are also against me taking out any loans what so ever. I said I don’t mind taking some out if it means getting out of here, but this just started yet another argument.